


Frat Party

by spacebounds



Category: 5 Seconds of Summer (Band)
Genre: F/M, Gen, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-07
Updated: 2016-07-30
Packaged: 2018-07-22 01:40:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,040
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7413604
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/spacebounds/pseuds/spacebounds
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Calum invites you to a party at his frat house and gets a little too drunk.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> moving my writing from tumblr (thinqng) to here. this is really old, like 2 years old and originally before i was conscious of it, this fic was specifc to a female reader but hopefully i took all the she/her out of it so it's gender neutral (let me know if i missed anything so i can edit it again!)

This was not the way you intended to spend your Friday night. You would much rather be in your room, eating ramen and reading a book, or getting started on the pile of homework your professors had assigned throughout the week. Maybe you would’ve done your laundry or cleaned up your side of the room so your roommate would stop passive aggressively making comments about the way you kept your side organized. Or maybe realistically, you would have just put on your favorite pajamas and crawled into bed for the next fourteen hours. You weren’t in the mood to go out but there you were, all dressed up and walking across campus because you let that cheeky Calum Hood talk you into attending his stupid frat party.

”Good morning,” he had said with a smile as he sat next to you in the lecture hall earlier that day.

“Hi Calum,” you said as you flipped through your notes. Calling him an acquaintance was unfitting for your relationship with him; you’d talked outside of class quite a few times, and even hung out in a group of friends once, but to say that you were very good friends would have been a bit of a stretch. Still, every morning he’d drop his books down on his desk and sit in the seat to the right of you before he greeted you happily.

“I have a question,” Calum said. You looked up to see him staring at you intently, and suddenly you felt small under his gaze. It was a stupid thought. You didn’t know much about Calum, but you knew he was a pretty friendly guy. To feel even remotely intimidated by him was ridiculous, so you composed yourself as quickly as you could.

“Uh, shoot,” you said.

“Are you busy tonight?” Calum asked.

“Pardon?” You never expected those words to escape his lips. As polite as he was to you, you knew that you were a part of very different social circles. He was into sports and a part of Greek life, whereas you really had no interest in being as active on campus.

“I know it’s pretty last minute and you might have plans, but my frat’s having a party tonight, so I was wondering if you wanted to come.” You were surprised, partially because you expected his initial question to be related to course work, and because you never expected him to invite you of all people to party, so you merely stared at him before turning back to your notes.

“Um, I don’t know,” you mumbled. “It is pretty last minute and I don’t think frat parties are my thing…”

"Oh come on. You don’t have to drink if that’s what you’re worried about. You’re probably a light weight anyway,” he said with a smirk so wide that you could see the mischief seeping towards his eyes.

“Shut up,” you replied. “Like you can hold your liquor.”

“First of all, I will not have you making such… ludicrous statements tarnishing my good name. I can hold my liquor thank you very much,” he said before his eyes lit up again devilishly. “Besides, what I’d really like to hold is a nice conversation with you in a social setting.”

"Oh God, I never knew you were so full of it,” you said, trying not to laugh. He laughed along with you but quickly went back to being serious to keep the conversation from ending there.

“All jokes aside,” he said. “I promise you’ll have a good time if you come…” When you still seemed indifferent, he looked you up and down and quietly added, "It’d mean a lot if you came.“

"It’d mean a lot if I came to a dingy ass frat house and possibly get groped or puked on by people I don’t know?”

“When you put it like that,” he said, a laugh threatening to leave his lips, causing you to smile too. "Come on,“ Calum said. "It took a lot courage to ask you to come, you know that?” Your cheeks burned against your will and your mind came up with dozens of replies to get you out of going to the party, but something about the way he looked at you kept you from rejecting his offer, and when he slid you a piece of paper with his number on it, you knew you were in too deep to back out.

“See you tonight, yeah?” he said when the lecture ended, giving you another one of his confident grins. “Call me if you get lost.”

You were going then, you decided. It was too late for you to come up with an excuse not to attend. Yet, standing in front of the frat house, you felt disgustingly nervous to step inside, even with the group of kids from your hall that you’d arrived with. You didn’t particularly like any of them, but you knew from horror stories that it would be stupid to show up to a party completely alone so you stood in the middle of all them, praying to God that you’d find Calum soon enough to leave the pack you were currently with.

Two boys stood by the front door with beers in their hands, grinning as you and your hallmates entered the frat house in a way that made your stomach churn.

“Evening ladies,” one of them cooed in your ear, causing you to cringe at his proximity. Why you were doing this for Calum, you didn’t know.

Just find him, say hi, and then you can go back to your room. Simple, you thought to yourself.

It was most certainly not quite as simple as you thought it would be when you actually stepped inside of the house. It was still a bit before midnight, but the frat house was packed with faces you didn’t recognize. You walked cautiously, frowning at the sound your shoes made against the sticky floor. The music was too loud and the house was too humid and you had half a mind to text the number Calum had given you, but just as you were about to take out your cell phone, you found yourself colliding with the very boy you were looking for in the middle of the party.

“Hey!” he said, hugging you with one arm as he held a red cup in the other. His smile was radiant even in the dark room and made your stomach jump. “You actually came!”

“I made a promise, didn’t I?” you retorted. “I came with a couple of people but I think they wandered off.”

“Who needs them?” Calum teased. “You’ve got me now and I’ve got you, the best looking person at the party.”

“Really?” you asked, a small smile blooming on your lips.

“Well, yeah. You look fucking amaz- Wait I mean- I, um… You look- I think you look…” he stuttered over his words for a minute before covering his face with his hand. “I’m sorry I’m a little tipsy and confused right about now, I just think you look nice. Very nice. You’re a good looking person and I… I’m going to stop talking right now.”

“Thank you,” you said earnestly. There was a moment of silence before Calum spoke up again. 

“I’m really glad you came,” he said. His words seemed to be a bit slowed and slurred but you made no comment about it. You also didn’t comment when he wrapped his arm around you, seeming a bit too drunk to hold himself up. "Would you like something to drink? We’ve got beer, bottles of water, probably some Gatorade…"

“I’m fine,” you told him. Calum nodded in response and put his cup to his lips, downing the rest of his drink in a single gulp and smacking his lips loudly when he finished it.

“Come with me while I get something then? I can introduce you to some of my friends.” His face seemed even more flushed so you nodded, if only to keep an eye on him before you found a way to go back to your dorm. Calum placed his hand on your lower back and led you to the backyard of the frat house where a few people were lounging and drinking by a cooler, including some of his frat brothers.

“Calum, is this who you said you were inviting? You're even cuter than Calum said you were!” one of his frat brothers chirped. What was his name, Ashton? All that really mattered was his comment, which made your skin feel like it was on fire. You blushed a bit and peeked up at Calum, unable to tell if he was blushing too or simply drinking too much too quickly.

“He’s a bit rowdy when he’s drunk,” Calum said to you as he grabbed himself another beer, quickly returning to your side to help him support himself as he giggled. “Rowdy’s a funny word, don’t you think?”

“Light weight,” you muttered under your breath. You weren’t sure if Calum heard you clearly, but you heard him giggle again, and you rolled your eyes as he held you, a little glad he needed your support.

“So it’s not true? You don’t think I’m cute?” you asked just to get a reaction from him. Blush completely engulfed his face, creeping up his neck and spreading across his cheeks as he chuckled.

“What a loaded question,” he muttered smirking, before opening his can of beer and chugging it. His grip on you tightened slightly.

“It’s because the answer is yes,” Ashton said. “He talks about you a lot.”

“Shut up please,” Calum said. Ashton shrugged and walked away, leaving you and Calum alone. He turned to you, a smile still glued to his face. “I drank a lot tonight, stop trying to trip me up,” he said, booping your nose. He finished his beer and gulped, squinting as it went down and laughing as he swallowed. “I’m sorry, I’m so…” he laughed and dropped his beer can so he could grip your shoulders and keep himself from swaying. “I’m wasted, I’m sorry.” He chuckled again, dropping his gaze from your eyes to your lips without a single hint of subtlety.

“Don’t apologize,” you said. He beamed at you and hugged you as best as he could, but you felt his body sway a bit as he did.

“I’m sorry, you gotta hold me up here,” Calum said, appreciating the way you allowed him to rest some of his weight on you. "You’re so fucking… I think you’re really… Fuck…" Calum paused to let out a laugh every once in a while, unable to get through his sentence. “I think you’re special. I’m glad we’re friends.” He finally said. “I’m sorry, that sounded lame.”

“It didn’t,” you assured him, smiling sweetly for added measure. “That was nice of you.”

“No, no… I just… I’m so bad with words right now, dammit…” he let another laugh escape his lips before he continued. “Come closer, I have a secret to tell you.” You did as he said, leaning closer to him despite how confused his giggles were making you. “Don’t worry, I just have a secret to tell you.”

“A secret?” you repeated. Calum nodded excitedly, covering his face again as he giggled.

“Just come here,” he said. You leaned closer and he cupped his hand around your ear, his lips grazing the edge of your earlobe as he spoke. “My secret’s about you.”

“Me?”

“Yeah,” he said, snickering quietly and resting his head against your shoulder. “Yeah, my secret is why I can’t tell you how cute you are.” You bit your lip to keep from laughing, not wanting to burst his bubble and tell him that he was blowing his own cover.

“Why’s that?” you asked, playing along with his antics. “Why can’t the macho Calum Hood tell me how cute I am?”

“Because…” his intoxication making him drag out his words. His sentence was interrupted by another breathy laugh but he caught himself and got back on track. “If I tell you how cute you are, you’re going to figure out how much I like you, and I don’t think you can know about that yet.” There was another silence but it wasn’t awkward like the one before. Calum seemed so oblivious to his confession that nothing was tense. He wasn’t expecting you to reciprocate or respond or do anything. He simply told you how he felt and that was that, but even with no pressure to answer him you felt nervous and embarrassed and giddy all at once and you weren’t even sure how to address it.

“You like me?” you asked. He rolled his eyes and chuckled at you before resting his head on you again.

“You’re a very bad listener,” Calum murmured. “But that’s okay, I still like you. You just have to keep it a secret.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tbh i didn't double check this thoroughly cuz i'm lazy af but hopefully y/n is gender neutral (let me know if i messed up so i can fix it!!)

“Good morning,” Calum said as he dropped his books on his desk. You peeled your eyes away from the clock at the front of the room to get a good view of him. This wasn’t the Calum Hood that was drunkenly clinging to you that previous Friday night, blushing and babbling about his true feelings for you. That Calum was incredibly honest and vulnerable, and it still astounded you how he managed to keep that side of himself hidden. That also wasn’t the Calum Hood that walked into the student cafeteria with his friends Saturday afternoon, wearing shades to hide how hungover he was. You narrowly avoided him noticing you, but you wondered why you felt the need to. This was the charming, friendly Calum Hood you’d come to know and you couldn’t be more confused about it.

”Good morning Calum,” you said slowly. Your eyes met his for a moment and you felt embarrassed-for what you didn’t know-and your cheeks burned involuntarily. What did he think of what happened on Friday night? Was he planning on bringing it up? Was he planning to avoid it altogether? You couldn’t tell. “How was your weekend?” It was a halfhearted attempt at conversation. You knew exactly how his weekend went. You were there for almost half of it.

“Rough,” he chuckled. You couldn’t help but notice just how in control he was when he was sober. His eyes didn’t crinkle in the corners quite as much as they did when he was intoxicated, his laugh only lasted a few short seconds rather than bubbling up uncontrollably from the back of his throat. You weren’t sure which was stranger, the fact that he had such a different part of him that he didn’t let people see, or the fact that you’d kept track of his mannerisms to make those connections. Perhaps it was better that you didn’t dwell on that too long.

“That sucks,” you said. “I thought you had fun at the party.”

“I did. A little too much fun. I drank more than I should have,” Calum admitted. You couldn’t tell if he was embarrassed to say it or simply acknowledging what happened. It was a lot harder to read him when he was so sober and guarded.

“Right… I noticed you were a little…” Your voice trailed off and Calum laughed again, shaking his head.

“I swear I’m not normally like that, and I don’t want you to think I’m like that either,” he said. “I’d apologize for anything I might have done while I was drunk but to be honest, I can’t remember most of it.”

“You don’t?” You asked searching his face for any sign of deception and finding none. Calum just shook his head.

“I remember seeing you and we went outside for a while but that’s about it,” he said, shrugging his shoulders.

“That’s the very last thing you remember?” you asked. It wasn’t surprising that he had blacked out. He was already drunk when you reached the party and he kept drinking for a while after that, but he really had no memory of anything he said? How could he not have the tiniest recollection of draping his arms around you and leaning on your shoulder muttering about how much he liked you? You could still feel his breath on your neck as he spoke; he was so close you could taste alcohol on his breath. Before the party, you’d never even touched Calum, not a high five or a handshake, but there he was clinging to you for dear life and making your heart feel like it was slamming against your chest every time it beat.

“Yeah,” he said. There was a pause. “Ashton told me that you made sure I got to my room alright and then he walked you back to yours.”

“Oh,” you said, though you knew the statement was only half true. You told Ashton to feed Calum that story in case he didn’t remember what actually happened.

“Is there anything that happened that I should know about?” Calum asked. You paused for a moment, the events of the party replaying in your head.

“You just have to keep it a secret,” Calum muttered drunkenly into your skin. “I don’t want to scare you off. I like you so much. Fuck, I like you so much.” His long arms wrapped around your torso and he snuggled into you, allowing his nose to brush against your collarbone. “You can do that right? You can keep it a secret for me right?” You looked down at Calum’s face but he wasn’t looking at you. His eyes were shut but he was smiling, rocking you back and forth as he held you. You wanted to find it endearing. He looked so innocent with his pink cheeks, and his confession made you ignited a new feeling you never imagined you’d ever have for Calum, but you knew in your gut that it was the liquor talking. You and Calum were in two different social circles. Nothing he said could possibly be true.

“You don’t know what you’re saying,” you told him. “You’re really drunk right now, you don’t like me Calum.”

“Yes I do!” He exclaimed, his voice much louder than you would have liked. “I do!” He tried to stand upright without you, but he couldn’t manage it and ended up gripping onto you by your shoulders. “You’re amazing. You are… You’re really…” He struggled to find the words. “Fuck, I just really like you okay?”

“Keep your voice down,” you said. His face was so flushed that his blushing was almost indistinguishable, but he instantly looked down and lowered his voice.

“I’m sorry,” he muttered. He slumped against you again and you struggled to hold his weight up. He had at least been able to keep most of his weight off of you before, but now he was completely depending on you for support.

“Calum?” You asked. No response. His eyes were unfocused and fluttered slowly as he struggled not to fall over. “Are you alright?”

“Everything is like…” He began muttering incoherently for a bit. “Everything is spinning.”

“You need to lie down,” you told him. “Your room is upstairs, right?”

“I don’t need to lie down I just need… Can I get something else to drink? I need another drink.” His face was red but he was no longer smiling. He looked tired and confused and his lips were pursed in a pout.

“Absolutely not,” you said. “You’ve had enough for one night Calum, I’m cutting you off.” He frowned and tried to argue, but his inability to form intelligible sentences rendered him silent. You took the opportunity to grab him by the hand and led him back into the frat house.

There were even more people than when you’d first got there. You groaned, pulling Calum closer to you to keep him from getting separated from you. The last thing you needed was to lose him, drunk and incoherent int the middle of the party. You felt his fingers slip from yours but before you could turn and look for him, Calum was wrapping his arms around your shoulders and resting his chin on your shoulder.

“Don’t walk so fast,” he groaned. “I can’t keep up.” You blushed, feeling his hold on you tighten as he hugged you from behind, your back pressed against his chest as he stumbled along with you. You wanted to stop and slow down for him but the thought of someone seeing you two together like that was enough motivation for you to get upstairs as quickly as possible. You barely knew if he honestly liked you. You didn’t need other people speculating it too.

“You can rest in a minute alright? We just have to get you to your room,” you said. You heard a tired whimper escape his lips and you dragged him along with you to the stairs, only to be face to face with Calum’s favorite frat brother: Ashton.

“Where are you two crazy kids going?” Ashton chirped, gesturing at the very cozy position Calum had taken while latched on to you. “You guys seem very close now, yeah?” You cringed at the smirk he gave you which only widened when he saw Calum nuzzling his head against your neck. “Are you guys trying to get some alone time? Because I can get out of your way.”

“Please stop talking,” you pleaded. “I’m just trying to make sure he makes it back to his bed in one piece.”

“Uh huh,” Ashton said with a grin on his face. “Of course you are. Cal’s room is the second door on your right. Have fun, use protection, have a safe word…”

“ ‘K thanks,” you said, trying to ignore Ashton’s snickers as you pulled Calum up to his bedroom. He tripped and fumbled up the steps but you managed to get him into his room, shutting the door behind you.

“I wanna go downstairs,” he whined as you pulled him over to his bed, his voice low and weak. “I’m fine, I swear.”

“Hush Cal,” you said. You peeled his arms from around you and gently pushed him onto his bed before sitting next to him on the mattress. You weren’t sure when you started calling him Cal, but he didn’t seem to mind. He merely flopped down on his bed and shut his eyes, moaning and whining beside you.

“I fucked up so bad tonight,” he muttered, though it seemed like he was talking more to himself than you. “And now you probably don’t ever wanna talk to me anymore. I messed up…” There was a sharp pain in your chest at his words. It felt wrong sitting there and listening to him confess all those things when you knew he was too drunk to control himself.

“Calum, it’s fine,” you said. You couldn’t fight the urge to stroke his hair, his short black locks curling under your touch. “I’ll let you get some rest and we can hang out when you feel better, okay?”

“No,” Calum moaned. His eyes opened slightly and he sounded close to tears. “Please don’t leave me.” He reached out for you but his fingers were too clumsy to hold you properly.

“I have to go,” you said, but his sad whining kept you planted next to him.

“I can sleep on the floor,” he said. “And you can have my bed all to yourself.”

“You’re not sleeping on the floor Calum.”

“I just need you here,” he said, his voice getting more desperate. “So I can wake up and know that I didn’t dream this. That I actually got to spend time with the most gorgeous person I’ve ever met.”

“Calum.” You looked at him and he stared blankly at you, his eyelids heavy with exhaustion and intoxication. “Relax, you’re drunk. You don’t know what you’re saying.”

“It’s not that I’m drunk I just … I just,” he groaned quietly. “I don’t have to be sober to know I’d never in a million years deserve anyone like you. I’ve known it since the very first time I ever talked to you in class and I tried to ask you out but couldn’t get like… I couldn’t get brave enough to do it. You’ve got the cutest smile in the world…and your laugh-it’s the best sound I’ve ever heard and now, here you are, in my room, and I really wanna kiss you but only if you wanna kiss me too. But you don’t. You want to leave and I’m making you stay and I really really don’t deserve you.” He shut his eyes tightly and curled up into a ball. As much as you would have loved to curl up beside him, you refrained. You couldn’t take advantage of the poor boy.

“You want to kiss me?” you asked, hoping that talking about his confession would help you to focus on things other than how it’d feel to have his lips moving against yours.

“You’re the worst listener ever,” Calum mumbled. You smiled and laid down beside him slowly.

“Sorry,” you said. “Sometimes you say things that are hard to believe. I need to hear them twice before I know you mean it.”

“Well,” he said, his drunk sleepy voice just barely managing to make it past his lips. “I like you I like you, you’re awesome you’re awesome, promise me you won’t hate me in the morning…” His muscles relaxed and you could tell he was falling asleep, but he managed to mutter one last time, “Promise me.” His lips parted and his chest expanded with every breath he took, and you allowed your eyes to shut as well.

“I promise Calum.”

You woke up the next morning, facing Calum, watching him sleep for a moment. It was comforting to know that you hadn’t dreamt the previous night, but it didn’t seem wise to stay until he woke up. You promised you wouldn’t hate him in the morning, but you didn’t promise that you’d still be there in his bed. You also didn’t feel like running into his frat brothers and getting looks from them as they made assumptions about what you and Calum had been up to all night.

Carefully, you rolled out of bed as not to wake him, and slipped quietly out of his room without making a sound. He didn’t even stir when you shut the door and you let out a sigh of relief. It’d be a lot easier to face him if you didn’t have to explain that you hadn’t slept with him. Quietly, you shuffled to the stairs, trying to make your steps as light as possible. Maybe you actually would get out the house unnoticed.

“We’ll look who we have here,” a familiar voice boomed. You should have known leaving wouldn’t be that easy. At the bottom of the staircase, Ashton was beaming up at you with a cheeky smile. “You and Calum must’ve had a good time last night. You guys were pretty quiet, I’ll give you that.”

“It wasn’t like that,” you said as you made your way down the rest of the stairs.

“What you get up to behind closed doors is none of business,” he said holding his hands up in defense.

“Well now I’m making it your business. Calum was really drunk and he looked like he was going to pass out so I stayed with him to make sure he didn’t go back to the party and drink himself sick,” you said. “Before he went to sleep he started confessing a whole bunch of things to me that he probably wouldn’t have said if he was sober and-”

“Confessing?” Ashton asked. “What was he saying?”

“That he liked me. Which I know can’t be true because he was drunk and he didn’t know what he was saying, right?” You stared at Ashton and he ran a hand through his hair with a sigh.

“Hate to break it to you, love, but the poor kid gets really honest when he’s drunk. Anything he said, he meant,” Ashton said. “I’m guessing you don’t like him that way if you were hoping he didn’t mean it.”

“No, it’s not that I don’t like him,” you said. “It’s just… He didn’t want me to know that he likes me yet. I wasn’t supposed to hear any if the things he told me.”

“Ah,” Ashton said. “So what are you gonna do? Act like this didn’t happen?”

“Sort of?” you said. “If Calum asks, don’t tell him I slept here. Tell him I left after he fell asleep, alright?”

“Yeah, sure,” Ashton said. You smiled softly and walked to the front door of the frat house but Ashton stopped you just before you left. “I just want to tell you, even if you pretend last night didn’t happen, you still know that he likes you. Maybe you shouldn’t wait around for him to come to you. Maybe you can make the first move.”

“I’ll think about it," you said, and left the frat house without another word.

"Um…” You voice trailed off as you realized Calum was staring at you and you left him without an answer. "I think Ashton may have left out a few details about what happened on Friday.“

"I figured as much,” Calum said. “Maybe we can hang out sometime and you can tell me what he missed?” He smiled at you and for a moment he looked like the shy boy he was when he was lying next to you, pouring his heart out to you. Maybe Ashton was right. Maybe you could take a chance for once.

“Sure,” you said, smiling at Calum. “It’s a date.”

”W-what?” Calum repeated. ”It’s… It’s a date?”

“Yes Calum,” you said. “Sometimes when somebody likes somebody else, they hang out with them and get to know them. We can go get some coffee and I can tell you everything that happened on Friday night.”

“Wait… You like me?” Calum asked. You smirked and nodded you head, enjoying the look of shock and admiration that was evident on his face.

“You’re a very bad listener Calum,” you said, smiling at the blushing boy beside you. “But that’s alright. I still like you.”


End file.
